www.bmw-clubs-international.com | BMW Clubs’ World | 12th year | Edition 2 | May 2014 BMW Clubs’ World 2/14 BMW Clubs International Council Newsletter NEW LOCATION OF BMW GROUP CLASSIC. TECHNO CLASSICA AdVENTURE TOUR INTERVIEW WITH IN ESSEN, 2014 FOLLOWING THE DR. RALF ZIEGLER DAKAR RALLY EDitITORORiaIALL DEAR BMW CLUB MEMBERS, The BMW Club season has now taken off in my region as spring is finally here. The Techno Classica show held in Essen in March is the world’s leading historic car exhibition and afforded an opportunity for the BMW Classic and Type Clubs Section, the worldwide umbrella organisation for historic BMW automobiles and motorcycles, together with BMW Classic, to present the whole BMW Motorsport brand range on two and four wheels, as well as reliving the kick-offs of the 1930s, 50s and 70s in the shape of the BMW Dixi, the R 23, Isetta or a BMW 1502. I regard this as a coherent presentation by equal partners – the clubs and the brands. A minimalist, brightly-lit, open stand layout integrated the clubs, their members, visitors and BMW Classic and BMW Club Office staff members to create a single entity, the BMW brand communication culture. This is a multi-layered term that is open to interpre- tation, but also the key to the development of shared potential. It is a permanent fixture in the guidelines of the BMW Clubs International Council, at Council meetings and in many club publications, often formulated, modified and put into practice, sometimes overlooked and also positively supported. The international BMW Club organisation, you as a club delegate, your own BMW Club and its members, the Board of the Council, the head of BMW Classic and Ms Sabine Fink as the new head of BMW Museum and BMW Group Classic Marketing and the BMW Club organisation are called upon to exploit this potential, carried by Club members worldwide – also in advance of the forthcoming centenary of the BMW brand on 7 March 2016. In other words, we need continuously to improve the quality of the results of our own activities in order to permanently improve their profile among all club members and within the BMW brand organisation and its staff worldwide. In implementing the resolutions passed at the Council meeting in 2013, the Board of the Council has sent its delegates an extensive report on the Working Meeting held in Munich in March 2014 to keep them up to date with current issues. I hope that this information will be distributed within your national or regional BMW Club organisation and also within the BMW corporate organisation. I would particularly like to thank my colleagues Phil Abrami and David de Bruyn for this. The aim of effective communication must be to develop and define an active partnership between the official BMW Clubs and the BMW organisation throughout the world in all its relevant aspects. In many parts of our global BMW Club community this is a genuine partnership - for example in the case of the BMW CCA and BMW North America in the USA. What can help with the development of such partnerships? As an official BMW Club, we have the privilege but not the right to seek ways to develop a partnership with the BMW organisation, its importers and dealers. Ideas and suggestions: Patience, perseverance, ideas for creating win-win situations, the use of the tools available to the BMW Clubs International Council, the “BMW Clubs’ World” platform, the Council website or our Facebook site or the help of the Club Office and Club Office Manager in presenting your club and gaining your BMW partner’s attention. As a BMW Club, as a club member and as a BMW enthusiast, we all have something to bring to the specific “BMW spirit” in order to promote it. I hope you enjoy a great BMW season in 2014, whether on two or four wheels. Drive safely, ride safely, wherever you are. Dr. Bernhard Knöchlein Vice Chair Classic BMW Clubs International Council BMW Clubs’ World 2/14 2 COntents 2 EdiTORIAL 3 CONTENT / IMPRINT CURRENT ISSUES 4 BMW Group Classic: new location with historic roots. 5 New department manager at BMW Group Classic: Introduction Gabriele Fink. 6 BMW Group Brand Protection. Product and Trademark Protection. REPORTS 7 Techno Classica 2014. 9 Following the tracks of GLAS GT in America. 12 Adventure Tour following the Dakar Rally. INTERVIEW 16 Dr. Ralf Ziegler, Spokesman International BMW Classic- and Type Clubs Section. 17 EVENT diARY imprinT Publisher Editor-in-Chief Copy editor BMW Group Classic Kati Hockner Elke Hesse Responsible for Picture editing Lithography content shot one Zehentner & Partner Ulrich Arendts BMW Classic Munich Postal address Art direction Petuelring 130 Anne von Koenigswald 80788 Munich shot one Graphics Franziska Sporrer shot one BMW Clubs’ World 2/14 3 CURRent issues NEW LOCATION WITH HISTORIC ROOTS. Original BMW production site returns to company ownership. A move to a new location for BMW Group Classic marks a return to Knorr-Bremse took over ownership of the entire site and the the company’s historic roots. BMW AG has acquired a plot of land buildings on it. Soon after, BMW AG built new manufacturing covering more than 13,000 square metres in the Milbertshofen facilities on Lerchenauer Strasse, not far from the original facto- district of Munich. Previously part of a Knorr-Bremse AG facility, ry, where it would expand production to include engines for cars, it won’t be long before the site finds its feet as the first port of call trucks, motorcycles and boats over the period that followed. for fans of historical cars and motorcycles from the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. Its close proximity to BMW Plant Munich, And now, more than 90 years later, the acquisition of the premises BMW’s “four-cylinder” building, BMW Welt and the BMW Museum for BMW Group Classic sees the company returning to its historic makes this an ideal new home for BMW Group Classic. roots. The integration of part of the old production halls and the heritage-protected gate building into the overall concept for the new BMW Group Classic site also offers the opportunity for an Historic Halls intriguing confluence of architecture and function in the mould Interestingly, among the buildings on the plot is a section of the of the BMW Museum, which has also been heritage-protected original BMW factory built in 1918. The company will therefore since 1999. regain ownership of part of the old aero engine production halls, we well as the entrance building from those early days. The latter is poised to be recommissioned as the gateway into the Past and present company’s history. BMW Group Classic is the branch of the BMW Group responsible for all activities revolving around the history of the company and its The purchase agreement between BMW AG and Knorr-Bremse three brands – BMW, MInI and Rolls-Royce. The BMW archive, for AG, the world’s leading manufacturer of braking systems for rail example, specialises in answering questions on the history of the and commercial vehicles, was signed in February, paving the company, its brands and products. way for the development of the site and its historical buildings. Initial plans for the redevelopment of the plot and buildings are The BMW Museum conveys the fascination of the BMW brand – currently being examined. through its permanent collection and temporary exhibitions – with vivid references to the present and future. And BMW Group Classic’s The company’s vision involves bringing together numerous BMW brief also extends to participating in classic events, preserving Group Classic activities at a single address which satisfies require- and managing a collection of some 1,000 exhibits, and offering ments in terms of space, building technology and security that far-reaching services for owners of historical vehicles, from the the existing premises could no longer meet. The new location will supply of replacement parts to full restoration. offer space for the BMW Group Classic workshop, a customer centre (including parts sales for vintage and classic models), the BMW company archive, and administration and event facilities. Added to which, the new site will also allow BMW Group Classic to put items from its collection of historic vehicles on display. A Nucleus in the Moosacher Strasse The new home of BMW Group Classic was once the cradle of industrial-scale manufacturing of BMW engines: it was on Moosacher Strasse that the company first began producing aircraft engines in large numbers from 1918 on. Late in 1920, however, BMW Clubs’ World 2/14 4 CURRent issues NK. I A NEW DEPARTMENT MANAGER AT BMW GROUP CLASSIC. Gabriele Fink (49) took over responsibility for the BMW Museum and Marketing at BMW Group Classic with effect from 1 May 2014. Her predecessor, Dr. Ralf Rodepeter will now have responsibility for product strategy and marketing at BMW Motorrad. Gabriele Fink began her career 22 years ago in the archive of American car giant Ford and has remained loyal to the automobile industry ever since. After another move to venerable Swedish brand Volvo, she joined the BMW Group in 2000. First serving as press officer for the newly launched MInI brand, she has held a number of different positions within the Group’s communications organisation over the last 14 years. Her most recent position was Head of International Press and PR Events. ELE F She herself says: “My new position at BMW Group Classic brings the wheel full circle – after all, I started out I studying history. I’m really lucky to be able to make my passion my job. In addition to dealing with Classic business, I also really enjoy people.